Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language Edited by
Julian Julian Bamford Bamford Bunkyo University
Richard Richard R. Day University of Hawaii
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarc´on 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org C Cambridge University Press 2003
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. The copying of certain parts of it by individual teachers for use in classrooms, however, is hereby permitted without such formality. To aid identification, boxes that are copiable by the teacher without further permission are identified by a separate copyright notice: C Cambridge University Press 2003. First published 2003 Printed in the United States of America Typefaces Times New Roman 10.5/12.5 pt. and Helvetica Neue
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A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Extensive reading activities for teaching language / edited by Julian Bamford, Richard R. Day. p. cm. – (Cambridge handbooks for language teachers) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-521-01651-7 (pbk.) 1. Language and languages – Study and teaching. 2. Reading. I. Bamford, Julian. II. Day, Richard R. III. Series. P53.75.E94 2003 418 .0071–dc21
2002041443
ISBN 0 521 01651 7 paperback
Contents
Acknowledgments page xi Introduction 1 I . O R GA N IZ I NG E X TE N S IV E R E AD I NG 7 1. Getting Started 9
1.1
Exploring Personal Reading Histories by Anne Burns 9 1.2 Reading and You Questionnaire by Ken Schmidt 10 1.3 Exploring Reading by Andy Barfield 12 1.4 Getting Acquainted by Maureen Snow Andrade 14 1.5 What Do You Think? by Marc Helgesen 17 2. Introducing Reading Material 20
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14
Identify the Books by Yamanaka Junko 20 Blurb and Title Match by Ken Schmidt 22 Genres and Titles by Ken Schmidt 24 Little and Often by Philip Prowse 26 Color-Coordinated Materials by Yamanaka Junko 27 Find Your Level by Ken Schmidt 29 The Book Box by Anne Burns 31 Children’s Nonfiction for Adults by Jean Kirschenmann 33 Surfing the Library by Jana Harper Makaafi 34 Issue Logs by Janet Watson 35 Sheltered Reading on the Internet by Marc Helgesen 37 The Real-World Reading Project by Christine Winskowski 40 Ordering and Buying Books by R. Jeffrey Blair 43 Genre Corners by Philip Prowse 45 v
vi Contents
3. Motivating and Supporting Reading 47
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17
Book Flood by Paul Nation 47 Reading Partners by Andy Barfield 48 Reading with Children by Paul Nation 49 Interactive Storybook Reading by Karen Irene Burrell 50 Radio Serial by Philip Prowse 54 Reading Homework by Julian Bamford 55 Listening Homework by Philip Prowse 56 Reading Diary by Anne Burns 56 “I Read a Good Book the Other Day!” by Ken Schmidt 58 The Best Reader by Vivienne Yu 59 Reading Marathon by Ken Kanatani 61 Rate It! by Ken Schmidt 65 Easy or Hard? by Richard R. Day 68 Quick Questionnaire by Eric Bray 69 Picking the Top Ten by Yamanaka Junko 71 Stimulating Ads by Yamanaka Junko 72 Reading Lounge by Julian Bamford 73
4. Monitoring Reading 75
4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6
Reading Record Form by Ken Schmidt 75 Reading Notebook by Midori T. Iwano 77 Individual Interviews by Midori T. Iwano 78 One-Sentence Check by Richard R. Day 79 Written Book Check by Bill Pellowe 80 Talking About Books by Ken Schmidt 81
5. Evaluating Reading 84
5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4
One-Minute Reading by Midori T. Iwano 84 Cloze Test by Jana Harper Makaafi 85 One-Sentence Summary Test by Jana Harper Makaafi 86 Speed Answering by Jana Harper Makaafi 87
I I. O RA L F LU EN CY 89 6. Oral Reading Reports 91
6.1 Instant Book Report by Marc Helgesen 91 6.2 The 4/3/2 Technique by Willy A. Renandya 92
Contents vii
6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12
Book Review Round Robin by Ken Schmidt 94 The Story and Me by Victoria Rodrigo 96 Favorite Books by Ken Schmidt 98 Draw a Picture by Marc Helgesen 100 Storytelling Sticks by Marc Helgesen 102 Too Many Questions by Marc Helgesen 102 Mind’s Eye by Marc Helgesen 103 Poster Presentations by Andy Barfield 105 Weekly Reading Review by Averil Coxhead 106 Book Clubs by Averil Coxhead 107
7. Drama and Role Play 109
7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6
Where’s the Drama? by Patrick Fulmer 109 Dramatic Conversations by Richard R. Day 110 From Character to Drama by Carol Foye Eyal 113 Act It Out by Magda Kalinowska 114 Mini-Dramas by Eva F. K. Lai 115 Here’s the News by Averil Coxhead 116
8. Having Fun 118
8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8
What Next? by Patrick Fulmer 118 Anybody You Know? by Patrick Fulmer 120 Guess Who? by Midori T. Iwano 120 Predicting Content from Title by Patrick Fulmer 121 Shared Dictation by Midori T. Iwano 123 Musical Chairs by Midori T. Iwano 123 Describe and Present by Nguyen Thai An 124 Read the Book! See the Movie! by Tony-Ren´e Donnes 125
I II . W RI T IN G 129 9. Written Reading Reports 131
9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7
Quick Book Report Forms by Ken Schmidt 131 Book Report Checklist by Magda Kalinowska 133 E-Critic’s Corner by Beatrice Dupuy 134 The Best of Books, the Worst of Books by Simon Evans 137 Getting Personal by Andy Barfield 139 One-Sentence Summaries by Jana Harper Makaafi 141 Picture It by Marc Helgesen 143
viii Contents
9.8 Online Book Discussion Forum by Beatrice Dupuy 144 9.9 Interactive Reading Community by Mizuno Kunitaro 145 10. Writing Creatively 147
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.10
Character by the Letter by Donna Prather 147 Gifts by Patricia Reiss 148 The Movie Version by Thomas S. C. Farrell 149 Poetry With Character by Richard R. Day 150 A Touch of Haiku by Taehee Choi 152 Once Upon a Time by Claire Hitosugi 154 A Different Ending by Eva F. K. Lai 155 Sentence Detective by Jeremy Taylor 155 My Own Story by Anne Burns 157 Tell Me a Story by Janet Watson 159
I V. R EA DI NG
163
11. Developing Awareness in Reading 165
11.1 Favorite Quotation by Jana Harper Makaafi 165 11.2 What Kind of Book Are You Reading? by Patrick Fulmer 166 11.3 Developing Metacognitive Awareness by Neil J. Anderson 167 11.4 Literary Devices by Richard R. Day 172 11.5 Cultural Clues by Patrick Fulmer 173 11.6 My Favorite Passage by Richard R. Day 175 12. Increasing Reading Rate 177
12.1 12.2
Timed Repeated Readings by Jana Harper Makaafi 177 Paced Reading by Jana Harper Makaafi 179
V . V O CA B UL A RY 183 13. Developing and Consolidating Vocabulary 185
13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4
One a Day by Anthony Silva 185 Vocabulary Journal by Richard R. Day 186 Vocabulary Discussion Groups by Richard R. Day 187 Individualized Vocabulary Tests by Richard R. Day 188
Contents ix
13.5 13.6 13.7
Identifying Idioms by Richard R. Day 190 I Know What Comes Next! by Jeremy Taylor 191 Collecting Collocations by Richard R. Day 193
The 12 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Extensive Reading References 203 Index 207
197
Introduction
Extensive reading is an approach to language teaching in which learners read a lot of easy material in the new language. They choose their own reading material and read it independently of the teacher. They read for general, overall meaning, and they read for information and enjoyment. They are encouraged to stop reading if the material is not interesting or if it is too difficult. They are also encouraged to expand their reading comfort zone – the range of material that can be read easily and with confidence. Extensive reading belongs in the language classroom. That is the premise of Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language. This handbook offers over 100 activities for setting up students’ self-selected reading, and tying it in with the rest of the language curriculum. These activities give teaching suggestions whatever the focus of your class – grammar, listening, speaking, writing, or reading; whatever teaching situation you are in – foreign or second language, an intensive program, or a class that meets once a week; and whatever the age and language level of your students. The only necessity is that the students already have a basic knowledge of, and are literate in, the foreign or second language. Good things happen to students who read a great deal in the new language. Research studies show they become better and more confident readers, they write better, their listening and speaking abilities improve, and their vocabularies get richer. In addition, they develop positive attitudes toward and increased motivation to study the new language. Colin Davis says, “Any ESL, EFL, or L1 classroom will be the poorer for the lack of an extensive reading programme of some kind, and will be unable to promote its pupils’ language development in all aspects as effectively as if such a programme were present” (1995, p. 335). This applies to the teaching of all languages. Extensive reading is probably most usefully explained as a set of principles: We offer ten such principles here.
1
2 Introduction
What (exactly) is Extensive Reading? Because extensive reading depends on students having suitable reading material, it is fitting that the first two principles are about what students read. The rest of the principles follow from and depend on these first two. 1. The reading material is easy. This is the most important principle of extensive reading for language learning because students are unlikely to succeed in reading extensively if they have to struggle with difficult material. Learners read material that contains few or no unfamiliar items of vocabulary and grammar. (There should be no more than one or two unknown vocabulary items per page for beginners; no more than four or five for intermediate learners.) 2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics is available. Variety means that learners can find things they want to read, whatever their interests. Different kinds of reading material also encourage a flexible approach to reading. Learners are led to read for different reasons (e.g., entertainment; information; passing the time) and in different ways (e.g., skimming; scanning; more careful reading). 3. Learners choose what they want to read. Self-selection of reading material is the basis of extensive reading, and it puts students in a different role than in a traditional classroom where the teacher chooses, or the textbook supplies reading material. One reason that many students enjoy extensive reading is that they choose what they want to read. This choice extends beyond selection of reading material. Learners are also free, indeed encouraged, to stop reading anything that is not interesting or which they find too difficult. 4. Learners read as much as possible. The language learning benefits of extensive reading come from quantity of reading. For the benefits of extensive reading to take effect, a book a week is an appropriate goal. Books written for beginning language learners are very short, so this is normally a realistic target for learners of any ability level. 5. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower. Because learners read material that they can easily understand, it encourages fluent reading. Dictionary use is normally discouraged because it interrupts reading, making fluent reading impossible. Instead, learners are encouraged to ignore or guess at the few unknown language items they may meet. 6. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding. In contrast to academic reading and intensive reading, and the detailed understanding they require, extensive reading
Introduction
3
encourages reading for pleasure and information. Rather than 100 percent comprehension, learners aim only for sufficient understanding to achieve their reading purpose. 7. Reading is individual and silent. Learners read at their own pace. In some schools, there are silent reading periods when students read their self-selected books in the classroom. Most extensive reading, however, is homework. It is done out of the classroom in the student’s own time, when and where the student chooses. 8. Reading is its own reward. Because a learner’s own experience is the goal, extensive reading is not usually followed by comprehension questions. At the same time, teachers may ask students to complete some kind of follow-up activity after reading. There are a variety of reasons for this: to discover what the students understood and experienced from the reading; to keep track of what students read; to check student attitude toward reading; to link reading with other parts of the curriculum. What is important is that any follow-up activity respects the integrity of the reading experience, and that it encourages rather than discourages further reading. 9. The teacher orients and guides the students. Extensive reading is different in many ways from traditional classroom practice, and teachers need to explain to students what it is, why they are doing it, and how to go about it. The teacher will also want to keep track of what and how much students read and their reactions to what was read in order to guide them in getting the most out of their reading. 10. The teacher is a role model of a reader. Example is the most powerful instructor. If the teacher reads some of the same material that the students are reading and talks to them about it, this gives the students a model of what it is to be a reader. It also makes it possible for the teacher to recommend reading material to individual students. In this way, teacher and students can become an informal reading community, experiencing together the value and pleasure to be found in the written word.
Extensive Reading Activities These ten principles provide a theoretical framework for putting extensive reading into action in the language classroom. The activities in this hand book implement them in practice. The activities have a variety of purposes. In Part I, the activities help teachers to introduce extensive reading to students, to organize and introduce suitable reading material, to motivate and support, and to monitor and evaluate reading.
4 Introduction
In Parts II–V, the activities link reading with particular aspects of language learning, for example, increasing oral fluency, improving reading and writing skills, or learning new vocabulary. Most of these activities assume that students have access to suitable reading material, usually a library of books, from which they can select what they want to read.
Using the Activities The activities are laid out in easy-to-use format, as follows: Level: This indicates the approximate level of proficiency that students need to have in the foreign or second language in order to do the activity. These levels are best regarded as guides. If you think an activity marked Intermediate to Advanced might work with your high beginner class, by all means go ahead and try the activity. Aim(s): This indicates the primary goal(s) or purpose(s) of the activity. Preparation: This lists what you as the teacher need to do so you can model (i.e., demonstrate) or introduce the activity to students. There is also mention of any necessary or useful material or equipment, for example, a handout, a stopwatch, or an OHP (overhead projector). Procedure: This is a step-by-step guide for how to use the activity. It is often suggested that part of an activity be done by individual students, or pairs of students, or small groups (i.e., three or four students), or as a whole class. Tip(s): These are ideas to make the activity easier to use. For example, “Ask colleagues and neighbors to help you collect materials.” Extension(s): These are ways of expanding the activity beyond the basic procedure. For example, “Display the posters in the library or classroom.” Variation(s): These are alternative ways of doing the activity. For example, “Instead of having students work individually, have pairs or small groups of students select an item and fill out the Analysis Sheet.” Contributed by: The name of the teacher who contributed the activity, with affiliation and country. Names are written here in the order preferred by the contributor. (In the Index, the names of the contributors are arranged by family name.)
Contributor writes: This is the contributor’s voice, speaking directly to other teachers about the activity.
Introduction
5
Another teacher who has used a version of this activity writes: Occasionally others relate their experiences, or give suggestions.
Make the Activities Your Own! When demonstrating some of these activities in teachers’ workshops, we have been asked if it is okay to modify an activity in a certain way. For example, the procedure for 7.1 Where’s the Drama? calls for students to do a dramatic reading for about a minute. A teacher asked if it would be all right for her students to read for double that time. Our answer? Of course! When you use an activity, assume ownership of it. You should certainly adapt, change, modify, and adjust all of the activities to fit your own classroom, your style of teaching, your students, and your school.
Coda: The Pleasure Principle In a Japanese-as-a-foreign-language class, one of the editors of this hand book started out the class orientation by giving the students what he called the three rules of extensive reading . He wrote the first rule on the board: 1. Enjoy! The students dutifully wrote this in their notebooks. Then he wrote the second rule on the board: 2. Enjoy! A ripple of laughter rolled across the room. And as he began to write the third rule, everyone shouted out: 3. Enjoy! The students had certainly gotten the message that their extensive reading in the foreign language was meant to be pleasurable. It is true that recreational reading is not the norm for many students. It is also true that, despite its benefits, not all students immediately take to an extensive reading program. Nevertheless, we have found that the majority does react well, even in cultures where reading for pleasure and information is not a common pastime. If extensive reading is introduced in a positive way, if the reading material is easy and attractive, if the teacher is encouraging and supportive, most students will discover the enjoyment of reading, and so will reap the language learning rewards. It is the pleasure principle that underlies the theory and practice of extensive reading. Extensive reading should be fun, and the activities in this
6 Introduction
handbook, contributed by teachers who have used them successfully in their classrooms, reflect this. While editing this book, we used some of the activities with our own students who enjoyed them. Now it’s your turn. Browse through the book, and try those activities which seem appealing, and which suit the aims of your classes. Enjoy!
